Which to use
“chink” and “chuck” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,376
- “chink” frequency rank
- #5,399
- “chuck” frequency rank
- 51775
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chink | chuck |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A narrow opening such as a fissure or crack. | Meat from the shoulder of a cow or other animal. |
Where the eye mixes chink and chuck
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. chink and chuck follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: chink vs chuck
A purely visual mix-up. chink (/t͡ʃɪŋk/) and chuck (/t͡ʃʌk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chink is recorded at frequency rank #46,376, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɪŋk/. chuck is at rank #5,399, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃʌk/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 51775, this pair ranks #162,613 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chink vs chuck
Shared letters: chk. Private to "chink": in. Private to "chuck": u.
"chink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "chuck" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chink" for "chuck" ever safe?
Which is more common, "chink" or "chuck"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chink" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chuck" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #162,613 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chink" and "chuck" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chibi vs chink". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #162,613 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.